Blood
by Sievert Dinar
Summary: You must pay for your perceived wrongs


BLOOD by Sievert Dinar  
  
Disclaimer - Sailormoon is owned by a lot of people, most of whom  
are not me, so don't get all worked up about my using the characters  
in ways they weren't meant. I'm just a common or garden fanfic  
writer without a hope in this dark and cruel world. Maybe.  
  
  
  
A deep, incandescent green glow flickered around the dark,  
cavernous chamber of stone and cement as light, through small ports,  
glinted from the outside world over the surface of the ancient  
fountain pool. It was a rarely visited place, deep within the lower  
reaches of the Palace of Crystal Tokyo, which was why the young  
woman so loved to come here, to meditate upon her life, and the many  
responsibilities it had been either her fortune or misfortune to  
inherit, depending on the mood she was in.  
  
She silently glided from the entrance to the cavern to the  
side of the pool, an elongated water channel through which water  
lazily flowed, having been dispensed by the gentle flow of the  
dribbling fountain at one end, to its destination at the far end  
where it would drain into the Palace's moat. So slowly did it flow  
that the tiles that ran along the sides and base were in constant  
danger of developing moss and algal blooms, if not for the steady  
and unrewarded work of the two small automated cleaners, both of  
which were in desperate need of cleaning.  
  
She almost tore off her shoes and stockings, casting away the  
trappings of office with contemptuous abandon. It had been a  
particularly bad day, what with discussions over a peace settlement  
between several warring Middle Eastern nations collapsing once more  
because of the various prides and reputations involved. She  
sometimes wondered why her mother had even taken over from the  
previous peace envoys in the first place. It was so tempting to  
simply lay down the law and demand that everyone obey her divine  
rule, or else end up being banished from Earth altogether, like the  
followers of the Dark Moon had been so many years ago. Of course,  
if she did so, they'd probably end up following the same path. It  
just all seemed so damned pointless.  
  
Lifting up her long dress, she lowered herself to the side of  
the pool, allowing her feet to drop down into the soothing water.  
She folded the pleats of the dress over several times, making sure  
the hem didn't follow her feet, in case it was deemed necessary to  
make yet another public appearance. So many damned appearances,  
lately... Making statements about this and decrees about that, and  
half the time she had no real idea what it was she had been talking  
about, but it certainly seemed important enough. Not that she  
really cared. No, that wasn't right... She DID care, but there  
were times when she wished that people would just give it a rest...  
Give HER a rest. But there were just so many people in the world,  
and within the boundaries of the Kingdom, and each and every one of  
them with different thoughts, feelings and problems, constantly  
demanding audiences with her.  
  
She sighed and lay back against the tiled surroundings of the  
pool, wondering why nobody had bothered to build some seating or  
rests to make visitation to this place more comfortable. Because  
nobody, apart from her, ever came here, that was why. She stared up  
at the ceiling, determining to make some form of decree, that this  
place should be refurbished and made more inviting. But then, that  
would give the game away, that she frequented this place, and before  
she knew what was happening, her moments of solitude would be  
accompanied by about two dozen Senshi and about as many handmaidens  
and courtiers. It was hard enough, sneaking away from the  
conference room and avoiding Mars and Venus. That pair never ever  
gave up their eternal struggle to make her life as full as possible.  
As full of other people as possible, as it often turned out. They  
really had to learn she was no longer the little pink-haired girl  
they'd once doted upon.  
  
They were probably running about like a couple of headless  
chickens right now, trying to find her, getting all the others all  
worked up as well. They really needed to calm down and take life a  
little more easily. She wondered if her own daughter was going to  
be subjected to this kind of cloying affection when she matured to  
womanhood. Although, by then, she'd probably have her own group of  
paranoid Senshi to deal with, taking over from the ones of her  
mother's time. She placed a hand over her eyes and let out a long,  
exasperated breath. The silence was beginning to drive her mad as  
all these thoughts raced through her mind. She needed to talk about  
these things with someone, but who on Earth was there to talk to?  
There were only a few people she could truly open up to, and they  
were members of her Senshi, like Pluto and Saturn. Pluto was away,  
maintaining the Time Gate, whilst Saturn was... Well, she was going  
through what could best be described as one of her 'dark' patches.  
Still, it might do her some good to have company, talk things over,  
even if it meant taking a little in return.  
  
She rose from the siding and lifted her legs out of the water,  
wiping them down with a hand in the vain hope that they would dry a  
little more quickly. Standing, she carefully rolled out her dress,  
hoping the folds hadn't caused creases. She'd hate to have to go  
back to her quarters to choose yet another dress and spend next to  
half an hour in the process of getting re-clothed. Whoever came up  
with the concept that a Queen should always present herself as a  
regal figure obviously never had to live up to the part, themselves.  
And she was thinking this as the figure burst through the entrance  
into the cavern.  
  
The girl was probably not all that much younger than herself,  
physically at least. That was where comparisons ended. The girl  
was dressed in a disheveled fashion, her jacket and trousers  
tattered and torn. Her hair appeared unkempt and unwashed, as if  
it had been several days since she had last seen a shower, which,  
for all the Queen knew, was exactly the case. The girl slid and  
spun when she registered the Queen's presence, an expression of fear  
and surprise on her face. "Oh God! I found you. Oh God! Oh shit!  
Oh fuck!" She muttered almost incoherently.  
  
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" The Queen asked, not  
demandingly. Even though she was surprised by the girl's entrance,  
she was concerned by the emotions she was feeling, emanating like  
rays from deep within the girl's psyche. Things changed when the  
girl reached within her jacket and pulled out the .38 Special,  
aiming it at the Queen's chest.  
  
"I didn't want to be the one to do this. I'm sorry. I'm not  
very good at this kind of thing. Please forgive me, but it has to  
be done. To save the people of the world from your evil, I have to  
kill you. I'm sorry..." She pulled the trigger. The Queen felt an  
instant of pain as the shot tore through her. She clutched a hand  
at the seeping wound, as much with surprise as pain. Slowly, she  
lowered herself to her knees, looking up at the girl, who had  
dropped the gun to the floor, her hands up against her mouth in  
horror at what she had done. The young Serenity closed her eyes,  
opened them again and smiled.  
  
"I... I forgive you." She rasped, softly, before darkness  
overcame her. The girl watched, emptily, as the Queen's body fell  
sideways into the waters of the pool, a scarlet cloud forming in the  
green-tinted waters around her. Then she let out a pained cry and  
ran from the chamber, once more returning the place to the silence  
it was accustomed to...  
  
  
  
=^.^= niya  
  
Sievert Anathea Dienar sievertd@start.com.au 


End file.
